Irish Wildlife Observations 2013.

Was out digging bait in Sligo bay a few weeks ago and saw a
Pair of ibis not sure what kind they were but surprised to see them

saw a cormorant diving for food in between the 2 bridges in Enniscorthy yesterday afternoon !!

lovely looking bird but what a pest to have around in the waters.

Between them and the seals its no wonder the fishing in the harbour and on up the river is poor..

are you sure its not the run off from instensive farming all along the river
both the physical particles and the added chemicals
or the grey water being added to it from the town and others along the slaney
how many tertiary sewage treatment plants are there along that stretch of river?
the over fishing of wexford harbour and the seas close by
the dredging of these areas

these days if i see a cormorant or a seal its a good sign - theres some food for them in a particular area, then that means there must be some fish about

great response to that comment there Corbyeire
the amount of people cursing cormorants and seals, or any other natural predators for that matter, disgusts me. fed-up listening to it to be honest. every time i meet someone who has this opinion then i tell them that these animals have every right to be there and do NO damage to our environment as compared to the amount of damage that we do
we have people up this way shooting seals and cormorants, in big numbers! its f*#king disgraceful - pardon my language
im always glad to see such animals about
cheers
Chuckaroo

Chuckaroo it's not a matter of them having every right to be there or not I never said that the didn't, i just called them a pest .. cormorant predation is a serious issue esp across the water in certain rivers in the UK. I haven't seen a cormorant this far up the river before or seals and the reason that they are there, is to feed, as there is nothing down river.

Corbyeire does raise valid points that i am not disagreeing with any of them , but the large increase of seals (nearly 200 i'm told) at the mouth of the harbour over the past few years does effect the amount of fish entering the river no matter which way you look at it. It's a lot of mouths to feed and cormorants high up the river too is a bad sign for the Slaney, which is trying to recover to be one the great salmon rivers it once was in this country.

End... FishF out..

A pair of swallows arrived yesterday.(should have stayed where they were... crazy wind here tonight) as far as I remember this is earlier than the last 3 years.

A pair of swallows arrived yesterday.(should have stayed where they were... crazy wind here tonight) as far as I remember this is earlier than the last 3 years.

No swallows here at my end yet and they are always here between 12th / 15th april so they are late.
A couple of years ago saw a lot of housemartins nesting in north africa instead of flying to europe, migratory patterns must be mucked up. . . . . . . .

Was out digging bait in Sligo bay a few weeks ago and saw a
Pair of ibis not sure what kind they were but surprised to see them

If they were Ibis you were lucky to see them. They are rare enough in in Ireland and Britain I believe.
Never saw one myself.

The Blackwater from about five up miles from youghal has large flocks of little egrets in summer...
Just thought i'd throw that in.

not sea fishing i know...
spotted this bird at my local trout lake. there are 2 that have seemed to have made it their temporary home. guessing that its a canada goose? both were quite shy and kept their distance
saw a swallow there too for the first time this year

also spotted this trout feeding on the surface.. around the 3lb mark

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

That's a good quality looking trout. Overwintered, or freshly stocked?

defo a good quality trout Tanglerat and probably over-wintered, the place isnt stocked too often
and a very seldom fished wee lake, not too many fish would be killed so there are fish that have been in there for a good few years now
had a pristine steelhead, also about 3lb, from it the day before but hadnt the camera with me

That's a fat looking fish for an overwintered one for this time of year, especially considering the late spring and lack of growth/natural activity. There must be plenty of feeding for them in the lake.

Nice.

Seen plenty of Terns diving and a handfull of swallows while fishing of a wicklow beach yesterday evening

A pair of swallows arrived yesterday.(should have stayed where they were... crazy wind here tonight) as far as I remember this is earlier than the last 3 years.

We have a Swollows nest in the shed gable... no sign of any birds returning to it yet.

There's a few Swallows starting to arrive in Sligo & Leitrim over the past week.

Swallows around Donabate last friday and also saw a few in kilcoole in wicklow yesterday.

By this stage there's usually half a dozen starting to eye up the shed for nesting and the same of housemartins on the house gables...... Latest yet since Ive lived at this house.
I think they catch them with nets in North Africa to eat as they start to migrate to Europe too. Hopefully not too many..................

Swallows here now. They got the timing spot on food wise. The midges were everywhere.......

I was out for a walk in the countryside night before last in the moonlight and couldnt beleive the amount of Bats flying around

not sea fishing i know...
spotted this bird at my local trout lake. there are 2 that have seemed to have made it their temporary home. guessing that its a canada goose? both were quite shy and kept their distance
saw a swallow there too for the first time this year

also spotted this trout feeding on the surface.. around the 3lb mark

Nice rainbow Charlie, must be good feeding in your wee lake. The goose is a greylag goose. Canada goose is black and white. Pink footed is the other 'grey goose' but it has a much smaller beak than Greylag.

SEAWEED-EATING HARES:

As mentioned elsewhere, I've several times seen hares down at the water's edge at low tide, nibbling the fresh seaweed. A few others have come across this too. I mentioned it to Joe Kennedy who writes the Country Matters column in the Sindo, he checked, and apparently its not uncommon - they seem to be after the minerals. Anyone else come across this behaviour?

Saw a few of these lampreys while chasing trout in my local river.

You do not have the required permissions to view the files attached to this post.

nice1 JW. the best dead/live bait for pike i reckon
might be happier if he was returned to the safety of his river tho..
great pics